A typical office setting includes a plurality of networked computers that are configured to share resources over the network. For example, an office may include a local area network (LAN) that is configured to provide connectivity between several personal computers (PCs) and a laser printer. The laser printer is a shared resource. Each of the PCs can send a print job to the laser printer. Some networks may include the use of a print server to control access to the laser printer. The print server can interface with the PCs and the laser printer to provide enhanced printing services. For example, the print server may maintain a print queue that stores and/or forwards print jobs to the laser printer at a particular time or in a particular order.
When a typical laser printer is connected to the network, an administrator or other user installs the requisite printer driver software on the various machines that have access to the laser printer over the network. Once the proper software has been installed, then the user is further required to configure the printer, as appropriate, for the office requirements. Thus, for example, if the laser printer has a plurality of multiple-purpose print media supply trays/bins, then the user may need to manually configure the tray/bin to match the print media they're loading. This may require adjusting movable guides, setting switches, turning dials, and/or otherwise physically adjusting the print media supply mechanisms associated with the tray/bin. The user may also be required to manually input, for example, through a control panel on the printer, status information about the initial printer configuration. For example, the user may need to define the size and/or type of print media in each of the trays/bins.
It has been found, that many users do not complete such additional configuration steps. Instead, many users simply rely on the default printer configuration settings provided by the manufacturer. Default settings, for example, may define that each of the trays/bins is configured to supply “plain paper” type print media, having dimensions of 8½×11 inches. While such defaults may work just fine for most conventional office settings, should another print media be desired for a print job, then the user may be required to manually intervene with the print job to “trick” or otherwise “force” the printer to complete the print on a different media. Users often revert to such brute-force techniques because they are too busy or are otherwise not interested in reading and following the manuals provided with the laser printer. Most users simply want their printouts.
Indeed, configuring a conventional laser printer can be a daunting task, especially for users that are unfamiliar with the various codes, sizes, or types of print media that may be referred to by the printer manufacturer. Moreover, the user interface provided by the laser printer inputs/displays and printer driver software may further confuse the novice computer user.
Thus, there is a need for improved methods and arrangements for providing and using printer configuration status information to increase productivity of the user. Preferably, the improved methods and arrangements will increase the information provided to the user, while simplifying the process associated with initially configuring and subsequently reconfiguring the printer.